Vervain-flu shot
by GGina8
Summary: Set between 2x22 and 3x01. What if someone in the town council thought about the fact that vampires might be able to walk in the sun? What method would he figure out to find the vamps in Mystic falls? And how will Damon avoid getting discovered? Delena-centric
1. Prologue

**Elena POV**

„Another dead-end" I sighed as I plopped down onto my bed tiredly. We had been searching for Stefan for over a month now and still nothing. It was like he had disappeared from Earth.

I was really tired; we had travelled 10 hours for nothing. Yet I couldn't sleep. I missed Stefan terribly and was worrying about him. What if Klaus hurt him? Every memory when I saw him in pain came crushing back to my mind. Tears started to fall from my eyes and considered calling Damon.

I _needed _him, I needed someone to tell me that everything's gonna be all right, that we will have Stefan back soon and we will continue our high-school-drama life as normally as we could.

I picked up my phone and stared at it. But I didn't call him. I knew he had to be tired after our trip. I didn't want to wake him if he was asleep. So instead I dialled Stefan's number.

It rang, and rang and rang until it went to voicemail. And I just cried myself to sleep.

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AN.: So this was the lead-in. It's gonna be a 3-shot so not a long story, I just wanted to share it and I hope you like it! :)


	2. Beginnings

The next morning I woke up to the shrill voice of my alarm clock. I took a shower, dressed and had Ric drive me & Jeremy to school.

School…something I really despised since Stefan was gone. His absence made the memories of the sacrifice from time to time resurface and I was barely holding it together. I couldn't wait for the summer holiday to start.

After the second lesson my phone made a clinging sound signalling that I had a message.

**_"Council meeting at 4pm._**

**_Meet at the boarding house_**

**_afterwards._**

**_Damon"_**

This was simply bloody peachy! Now I had at least 4 hours to pass before meeting up with Damon to discuss further the search for Stefan. One thing was for sure: I didn't want to be alone. I decided to call Ric after history lesson and ask him if we could do some training.

Next lesson was biology and I had hard time focusing since I kept staring at the empty seat next to me where Stefan used to sit.

I only snapped my head up when at the end of the lesson the teacher started to tell us about the flu-shot that we were supposed to get the following day, but everyone had to get it until next Monday. That was odd. Not only it was too early for flu-shots (it was the middle of June), but also they had never set a date until when everyone _had to_ get vaccinated.

I grimaced. I didn't like injections the slightest bit. Especially since this entire supernatural thing started I'd started to associate injections and needles with pain.

All of us were given a piece of paper which had to be signed by our parents that they give their consent.

The following lessons passed by in a blur and Alaric agreed to train me on the afternoon.

During our training session I got another text from Damon:

**_" Some complications came up._**

**_I won't be able to meet you_**

**_today. Talk to you later. Be _**

**_safe!_**

**_Damon"_**

I sighed. This meant that we won't continue the search for Stefan tonight. I couldn't help worrying though. What kind of complications? Had the Founding Council become suspicious about him? Was there a new vampire in town?

I got myself pretty worked up about it and Ric ended up asking what was wrong. I considered blowing him off but decided that there was a chance that he might now something so I shared my suspicions with him about the flu-shot, the council and Damon's weird text message.

"Elena, I think you are overreacting." said Alaric with a worried face "You have been through a lot lately and I admit that this seems a little strange, but I doubt that it would be anything dangerous. Damon would have told us if you were in danger. Now I think you should go home and get some rest."

I sighed. Maybe he was right. I was being paranoid. I went home and took a hot shower hoping it would relax me. It did and I felt much better after it so I decided to write into my diary. When I was finished I just lay on my bed wondering what Damon was doing. I couldn't control myself. I sent him a text.

**_"R U ok?"_**

When he didn't reply I was starting to get worried. What if those complications turned out more dangerous than he though? What if he had been captured? I was getting myself all worked up again when suddenly Damon appeared in my room and looked at me with his beautiful blue eyes.

"Elena, I need your help!"

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AN.: So there you go! Here is chapter 1 :) I hope you like it! You can leave me a review if you want! Thanks for reading it! Peace out!


	3. Pain

Before I had time to realise what I was doing I hugged him with all my might. He just stood there for seconds frozen in shock but then he quickly recovered and started to speak with a cocky grin.

"Not the kind of help I was thinking about but I guess it's better, especially if we continue this on your bed!"

This snapped me out of it and I immediately released him punching him in the arm. "You are such an ass, Damon! I was worried! Did something happen? In what do you need my help? What is that in your hands?" I asked, eyes widening as he seemed to be holding a hypodermic needle and a small bottle with some yellow liquid in it.

"Calm down, Elena! This is something I wanted to talk to you about." He sighed and motioned for me to sit down on my bed, so I did and he put down the bottle and the syringe onto my nightstand. I eyed it suspiciously as he came to sit down next to me then he started to speak.

"As you know, today I was on a council meeting and one of the council members came up with the idea that what if vampires can walk in the sun. The searched back all the blood-stealing reports of the hospital and their idea proved to be right," I gasped in shock, now that they knew that vampires could go out in sunlight there was a chance of Damon becoming a suspect again.

He continued: "So they decided to act. As fast as possible. Now, you know you are getting a flu-shot tomorrow, right?" I really didn't like where this was going. I knew that something was off about the flu-shots in June! I nodded my head and Damon started to explain.

"Those are not simple flu-shots, Elena. They mostly contain vervain. That's how they are planning to take down all of the vampires in town. They are forcing everyone to take the shot within a week time. Anyone who protests will be captured and forced. And if they pass out after it…" Damon trailed off letting me finish the sentence. "They will be killed."

I sighed and closed my eyes for a second. "So what is your plan? And how do you need my help with it?"

Damon smiled. "You Elena, are a really good thinker. Now, since I know I can't avoid getting the injection, I realised that the only way that I can prevent being killed would be to build up a resistance to vervain. Just like Katherine did. Only a higher level of tolerance and we have to do it faster. The schoolkids are getting it tomorrow and on the afternoon comes the Council, the hospitals and the police. Since I'm on the Council I have one day to build up enough resistance not to pass out when I get it."

My eyes widened. It took Katherine centuries to become almost resistant to vervain. "How are you planning to do that, Damon? That's hardly enough time!"

He smiled softly. "That's where you come into the picture." he reached for the syringe and the vial and took it from the nightstand. I reeeeally didn't like where this was going.

"I need you to keep injecting me with bigger and bigger doses of vervain until my body becomes immune to it," he said and I felt the world spin for a second.

"No. No way! This is insane Damon! You want me to torture you so that you _might_ be able to build up some resistance to vervain! I'm not doing this! There has to be another way! Can't you just compel the nurses to say that you got it?" I asked hoping that the answer would be yes, hoping to find another solution.

"No Elena, I can't! Don't you think I haven't thought about it before? All the nurses were already given vervain and there has to be 3 witnesses-who will stake if the person really is a vampire. Listen Elena, I know it's gonna be hard, I'm not saying that it isn't, but I need your help with this. I can't do it myself….Please?"

I sighed as he looked at me with puppy-dog eyes…beautiful puppy dog eyes! I quickly snapped out of it. This was Damon!

"Fine, tell me what to do, and just so you know you owe me one!"

He smiled and uncapped the syringe and sucked up some of the liquid into it, then depressed the plunger so that all the air came out. By this time I knew I was totally pale. Damon must have noticed it because he put one of his hands on my cheek and started to rub it gently.

"Hey, it's ok. You won't hurt me Elena…..Isn't it ironic that _You_ are about to vervain me and you are panicking?"

I smiled at this nervously. "I'm fine."

"All right then Doctor Gilbert, let's get this done! " he placed the syringe into my hand and presented me his arm. He took my left hand into his other one and rubbed it along the inner side of his left arm's elbow. It sent shivers through my body. Suddenly he stopped and pressed my finger down to one spot.

"Can you feel that?" I nodded "That's the vein you have to push the injections into. Now, you are going to give me the first one, I might feel a little dizzy afterwards, but unless I pass out you have to give me another, bigger dose a few minutes later. And we're going to continue this until I pass out or can take the amount of a full syringe. I may pass out or feel out of it after a few shots ,so then you should wait until I recover slightly and as soon as I recover the slightest give me the next dose. I'm not going to lie to you, Elena, It's going to hurt. A lot. But please don't stop until I can take the full syringe without passing out. I need to do this."

I nodded. I really didn't want to hurt him but I knew I had to if I wanted him alive. So I took his arm in my hand and rubbed it for a few seconds. "Ready?" I asked and when he nodded I gently pushed the needle into the vein, then I gently depressed the plunger, injecting the vervain into Damon's system.

I kept watching him all the time trying to see how much it hurt him. He let out a low hiss when the vervain went in but otherwise he seemed fine. He closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath and smiled at me when he opened them.

"This went smoother than I expected. The next one should be about 2 ccs" he instructed and I pulled up the required amount into the syringe. This meant that we were going by 1 ccs and a full syringe contained 30 ccs…it was going to be a long night.

This time his hiss was slightly louder and I noticed that he started shivering a little. I immediately put down the syringe and started to rub his arm gently. "Hey, you okay?"

Damon let out a low groan. "I'm fine, though I think we should wait a few minutes for my body to dissolve some of it before the next dose." I nodded, placed the liquid and the injector onto the nightstand and manoeuvred myself and Damon until I was propped up with my head against the bed's backboard and his head was resting in my lap.

Damon was still trembling lightly and I started to run my fingers through his hair as a comforting gesture. I knew it must have hurt like hell even if his male(or vampire) pride didn't let him show it.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… it feels nice."

After a few minutes his trembling decreased and I prepared the next dose of vervain. This time his head stayed in my lap as I gently injected him with it.

He took a shuddering breath. "Next."

…

3 hours later we managed to reach 16 ccs and Damon was now trembling violently in pain, eyes tightly shut. I felt horrible. He was obviously suffering and _I _was causing it.

I was desperately trying to give him some sort of comfort. I kept rubbing his scalp or his arm and murmured him comforting words.

"I think you should rest for a while and then we will continue it later." I said when his shuddering didn't cease 10 minutes after the shot.

He started to shake his head. "No, you have to do it now. If we stopped my resistance would drop and we would have to start from lower again. I don't want that. So please!" He gasped out and I felt really awful for him.

It took another 15 minutes for the trembling to decrease enough for me to be able to find Damon's vein. This time he immediately tried to jerk away his arm as I slid the needle in and the movement caused it to break leaving a small part of it in Damon's arm, who was hissing and clutching his arm defensively.

I panicked not knowing what I did wrong and how to fix it.

"Damon what's wrong? Did I hurt you? What should I do? Damon?!" He blinked a few times then pulled the needle out of his arm and looked at me, eyes full of pain.

"Elena, I'm sorry. It was…instinctual. I don't know how to explain this, it's a lot like when we vamp out. We have no control over it." he rolled the needle-fragment between his fingers. "Now, how do we get another hypodermic-needle in the middle of the night?"

"I think we have one in the first-aid kit downstairs. But are you sure you want to continue this?" I wasn't sure I could. The fact that his body reacted on its own accord to stop the pain confirmed that the pain was excruciating for him.

Damon let out a whine-like sound. "Trust me Elena, it is a lot more unpleasant for me than it's for you, but we have to keep going. I'm sorry that you won't be getting much sleep tonight, but I couldn't find any other way to do this."

I sighed, jogged downstairs, picked up our first-aid kit and made myself and Damon a cup of coffee.

When I went back upstairs Damon was lying on the bed. I noticed that his shaking decreased which was good.

"Want some coffee?" I asked and his eyes opened to look at the mug in my hand.

"Maybe later. Now, if you don't mind…" he gestured towards the vervain and I nodded, attached the new needle to the syringe and took his arm in my hand. I peered at Damon to see if he was ready and then gently gave him the shot. His trembling increased again and for a split second I thought that he was going to pass out, but he didn't so we continued our long night.


	4. The shot

"This is the last one Damon. One more shot and it's over." I said as I watched him shiver in pain on my bed.

It was 7:22 am and if it hadn't been for the gallons of coffee that I had drunk I would have been long asleep.

The night was horrific. After about the 18th shot, Damon couldn't keep the screams of pain from escaping his mouth as the huge amounts of vervain burned through his system. He even managed to wake Alaric up, who burst into my room with a crossbow not expecting to find us in my bed. After a few minutes we managed to explain the situation to him and he offered to replace me if I wanted to get some sleep, but I refused. I still don't know why, but it felt right that I was the one doing this for Damon.

He stiffened and steeled himself as I sucked up the 30ccs of vervain into the syringe.

I knew this would be the worst and most painful, but I was glad that it was the last one. I wasn't sure that if I had to I would be able to do it again.

"I'm going to count down from ten, ok?...Ten, nine, eight, seven…." I quickly pushed the injection into his arm.

He hissed and actually bit my pillow as he curled up into a ball atop my bed. I threw the syringe into one of the corners of my room and went to comfort him, rubbing his back and mumbling softly into his ear.

After a few long seconds he opened his eyes and smiled at me. "You said you would count down from ten!" he whined and I giggled.

"I've read somewhere that the anticipation makes the pain worse. Besides I didn't say that I would give it to you when I reach zero, did I?"

He smiled at this then suddenly he pulled me into a hug. It felt nice. "Thank you, Elena."

"You don't have to thank me Damon. We are friends, remember?" He smiled and let me go.

"Now I think it's time for you to get up and go to school. We wouldn't want someone to think that you are late because you spent the night in bed with a hot guy." He wiggled his eyebrows and I slapped him across the chest giggling.

"All right mister. Now I think we both need to shower after last night and that's exactly what I'm going to do and you should do the same after you got home. So now if you don't mind…"

I pointed towards my door and Damon pouted. "You are already kicking me out? I thought I meant more to you than just a one-night-thing."

He said with a mock-hurt expression and went to walk towards the door. But as he leaped off my bed he swayed and with a thump he fell back onto my bed. I was next to him in a second.

"Damon, are you okay?" All the playfulness was gone from my voice.

"Yeah. It's just that the shots made me weaker than I thought. I will be fine in a few minutes." I eyed him worriedly.

"Do you need some blood?" I asked realising that he hadn't had any since he came here and with all the vervain he sure as hell needed it.

"Why Elena, are you offering?" He asked with a smirk.

"I was actually referring to the blood bags Alaric brought over for you a few days go." I answered rolling my eyes. Damon pouted.

"I guess that will do for now. Go get a shower, I will be downstairs if you need me." He got up, slowly this time and left the room.

I hopped into the shower and it felt amazing. At last I had some time to go over everything that happened at night. Damon _asked_ for my help. I don't know why, but this felt really nice. I really hoped that his resistance wouldn't fade until the afternoon.

Then I thought about it for a second, what if he got it with me? The nurses would let him, right? And it would be great if I could be there with him. I smiled. This was a great idea.

I got out of the shower dressed and went downstairs only to find Damon gone. I panicked.

"Ric where is Damon?"

"He went home to change. He said he would be back to take you to school." Alaric said totally calm while this made my panic rise higher.

"You let him drive home? Ric, he is really weak, he has a lot of vervain in his system. In this state he could easily get into a car accident!" I ran upstairs to get my phone and immediately called him.

"Miss me already?"

"Damon where are you?" I asked really worried about the fact that I heard the sound of an engine in the back ground.

"On my way to your house, why? Did something happen? Elena, are you okay?" He asked immediately picking up on the panic in my voice.

"No, I meant I'm fine, it's just …are _you _okay? You shouldn't be driving!"

He groaned. "I'm totally fine Elena. You worry too much. I've been through a lot worse, trust me." I heard the line go dead and the next minute he was walking through our front door smiling.

"Time for school, Elena!" I smiled back, picked up my backpack, got into his car and we headed towards the school.

"So, how comes that you are taking me to school today?" I asked just to break the silence.

"You are getting the shot in the first lesson so I guessed I would get mine too. Besides" he smiled" I'll be there to hold your hand when the big bad doctor gives you the injection." He teased. I smiled as and we pulled into the school's parking lot.

"All right, let's go!" He got out of the car then held my door for me.

We went to the nurse's room and waited for our turn. When just one person was before us something inside me clicked. I started breathing heavily and leaned against the door for support.

"I can't do this, Damon, I can't. No, no, no no…." I was panicking everything was coming crushing back to me.

Damon grabbed my arms and held me up as I felt my knees buckle. "Elena what's wrong? Look at me! Everything is going to be fine. Tell me what's wrong!" He said softly in a hypnotizing voice.

"It's the shot Damon, I can't. I… I've always had a fear of shots and even last time and I just can't I don't want to. Damon, please." I was crying hysterically and Damon seemed to be at loss.

"It's okay Elena, it won't hurt, I promise. And I'll be there with you all time, okay?"

I heard the nurse call my name and I hugged Damon, burying my head in his shirt. Suddenly I felt myself being lifted up and he carried me into the nurse's room.

I heard someone shut and lock the door behind us. My panic rose some more.

When I looked up I saw two well-built deputies, Sheriff Forbes, and the nurse with a HUGE syringe in her hand. I freaked out and started to struggle against Damon's hold, but he had regained most of his strength by then and he was holding me tightly.

"Can we have a few seconds? She is kind of freaked out about needles." Damon said softly, but suddenly I felt someone grab my left arm and wipe it with one of those antiseptic-wipes.

I tried to jerk away my hand but the nurse's hold on my arm was strong and Damon was effectively holding me immobile against his body.

I screamed out as the nurse pushed the injection into my upper arm. Damon rubbed my arm and soothed me. "It's over now Elena, it's over."

"Damon, let go of her. " I heard Sheriff Forbes say "Now Elena, can you stand up?" I realised that this was the test. To find out if I was a vampire or not. This sobered me up and I pushed myself onto my feet and wiped away some of my tears with the back of my hand, flinching when the pain of the shot hit me.

"Sorry for this. I don't know what came over me. I've just had this fear since I was a kid and now it just got too much." I was really embarrassed, I had no clue why I freaked out that much. Probably because the last time I had a needle pushed into me, was my parent's death. Or because I'd just suffered through a night watching Damon whimpering in pain because of vervain-shots.

"Now Mr Salvatore, it's your turn." Announced the nurse and I started to panic again. What if his resistance didn't work? Would Sheriff Forbes help us?

"Are you sure you want to get it now, Damon? I mean, you can still get it later in the afternoon with the rest of the council." Sheriff Forbes asked and I realised that she didn't want Damon dead either.

"Nah, it's okay Liz. I'd rather get this over with now." Damon made a lopsided smile and rolled up slightly the sleeve of this T-shirt.

I went over to him and took his and into mine. He buried his face into my neck and inhaled deeply as the nurse pushed the vervain into his arm. He let out a low hiss.

After a few seconds he leaned away from me and got up. "I guess we can go now, right?"

Sheriff Forbes's mouth was hanging open. "Yeah, sure. You don't have any more lessons today Elena. Go home and rest a little as the shot may make you a little drowsy. Same for you Damon and you don't have to come to the meeting today."

"Okay Liz. Thanks for everything. Come on Elena." Damon said pulling me with him through the door and in a few seconds we were in his car.

"Are you okay?" I asked as he seemed to be pale, at least paler than usual.

"Yes Elena, stop worrying, I'm taking you home now" he started the engine "or would you like to come to the boarding house with me and drink on the fact that my amazing plan worked?" He smirked.

"Actually I do." He seemed surprised for a second but didn't question me.

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AN.: Soooo there you go guys. I hope you like it! Thank you for the awesome reviews...Btw Damon is so cute when he is hurting! Awh :) I'll probably have one more chapter and then it's over. Let me know what you think about this story! Hugs from me 3


	5. Peace

**AN.: Hi guys! Sorry for the delay I was really busy and even now I've skipped rehearsing just to be able to post this :) Anyway this is the last chapter and I hope you like it! I'm sorry for those who asked me to continue this further, but I don't know how, it just feels like it's supposed to end here. I will try to write another fic like this during the winter-holidays, but I can't promise you anything. **

**I'm grateful all of you who left me reviews, they really made my day when I read then, so thank you for your kindness! I hope you like this last chapter as much as you liked the earlier ones. Have a Wonderful Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year!**

**Enjoy!**

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We were nearly at the boarding house when I noticed that Damon was shivering.

"Damon, are you okay? You are shivering." I asked and he simply shrugged.

"I'm fine Elena, really. Just a little cold that's all." he said reassuringly, parking the car in front of the Boarding house.

We got out of the car and as we walked towards the front door Damon wavered and I had to grab his arm to prevent him from falling. I put my hand onto his forehead.

"Damon, you are burning up. I think you should go up to your room and get some rest while I bring you some blood bags from the basement.

He shrugged me off with an "I'm fine." I sighed. Damon and his goddamn pride! His shivering intensified and my worry grew.

When we reached the hall Damon's knees suddenly gave out and this time I didn't manage to catch him and he fell onto the floor with a loud thud. He whimpered and was shaking violently as I kneeled down next to him.

"Oh my gosh! Damon! What's wrong? Can you get up?" I moved to get him to stand up, but his body convulsed and he curled up into a ball on the floor.

"Too much vervain for one day." He moaned.

"I have to get you at least to the couch, and then I will give you some blood, okay?" He nodded and tried to get to his feet, but his muscles spasmed with the movement and he fell back onto the ground with a painful yell.

I grabbed him by each of his arms and dragged him towards the couch, he kept whimpering silently, but otherwise he took it quite well. I managed to pull him onto the sofa and by the time I finished I was panting.

Who knew that Damon was so heavy?

I covered his shaking form with a blanket and ran my palm over his forehead. He had a fever and it was getting higher. I sudden feeling of déja vou hit me as I brushed some strands of his raven hair out of his face.

It had barely been only a month since the last time I saw Damon lying in a bed week, with a high fever. I shuddered. No, this time everything will be fine. This was only vervain. A few bloodbags and he will be good as new.

Suddenly I heard the door open. I panicked. Had somebody realised that Damon was a vampire? Did they come to kill him? My worries immediately subsided as I heard Andie's voice. "Damon, are you home? I saw your car outside!"

I saw something flash in Damon's eyes and he whispered to me. "Call her here, fresh blood works better."

I immediately complied and went to the hall to grab Andie. When she saw the condition Damon was in she gasped and rushed to his side. "What's wrong with him? Is he sick?"

It was clear that Damon felt totally uncomfortable in this situation so he immediately took Andie's wrist and bit down. She didn't even flinch. '_He must have compelled her earlier_' I thought as he drew deep gulps of the blood.

And watching Damon drink from someone felt wrong, so wrong, and I didn't know why. I wanted to give him _my_ blood, I wanted to be the one who helped him.

But after a few seconds he pushed away Andie and she fell over the table as Damon started to throw up the blood all over the carpet.

I started to rub his back soothingly. I was in full panic mode. _'Why did he throw up the blood?'_ The question raced through my mind.

"Vervain, her blood is full of vervain." Damon whimpered, dry heaving as his body fell back against the sofa.

Relief flooded me. Of course! She must have had the shot earlier. I smiled a little and ran downstairs to get some blood-bags. On my way I noticed that Damon managed to knock Andie out cold. Well, at least I didn't have to worry about her for a while.

When I got back Damon's eyes were closed and if it hadn't been for his violent trembling I would have thought that he was asleep.

"Hey, brought you some blood bags." I whispered to him, opening one of them and putting it in front of his mouth.

His beautiful blue eyes fluttered open and he started to drink.

He drained all four blood-bags that I had brought and he looked a lot better, though he was still trembling slightly. Lying back down he closed his eyes.

I gently ran my fingers through his hair, down his arm. I noticed him wince when my fingers brushed the spot where he was given the shot and I rolled up the sleeve of his T-shirt only to see that it was red and inflamed.

I quickly went into the kitchen to get an ice pack and brought a wet washcloth too to put onto his forehead.

When I got back, Damon's eyes were closed and he was completely still. I gently placed the washcloth onto his forehead and when he didn't even move the slightest I decided that he must have been sleeping. I picked up the ice-pack and gingerly put it onto his shoulder.

His eyes snapped open and he let out a hiss of pain. He looked at his arm, then back at me then closed his eyes back. His face looked peaceful and I couldn't help lying down next to him.

His lips curled into a smile and he wrapped his injured arm around me gently. It felt so nice just lying there in his arms. I felt completely calm and peaceful and I knew that everything was going to be all right. For the first time since Stefan offered himself for the cure I didn't think about him, it was just me and Damon. And the first time since then I was happy and slept in peace.

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**_The End_**


End file.
